Influx
by Synren
Summary: This is a world covered by the beautiful blue sky. Not even once did it turn dark. The sun's rays never left the earth. The concept of darkness is nothing but a fabricated fairytale. This is an AU of FFVII and FFVIII. This contains mature themes and same-sex relationships.
1. Prologue

**Influx**

* * *

_This is a world covered by the beautiful blue sky.  
Not even once did it turn dark.  
__The sun's rays never left the earth.  
The concept of darkness is nothing but a fabricated fairytale.__  
_

_No matter how many times the world spins, the comforting light never leaves._

_My wish is to merely see the fabled stars that I read in fiction.  
__The stories would say, out there are hidden secrets that the sky kept hidden from us.  
__Sheltering us from the harshness of the outside world.__  
_

_Day by day I did wonder.  
__That maybe I should be thankful that the sky never turns dark.  
__For what would it be if I have to face it with this reality?__  
_

_My life is meaningless.  
__The contract binds me to this world._

_My existence casts trepid glances to the world around me.  
__For I shall know no rest.  
__  
_

_Forever, I will be here.  
__Holding a curse that I brought to myself._

_With this sword I adorn-  
__The world shall fall asunder._


	2. Prologue II

I vaguely remember the words my mother whispered to my ear.

_'You are my pride and joy.'_

I didn't understand what she meant back then. She would speak words that didn't make sense to me. But when I think about it, my mother has always been the unearthly type.

I remember the floral scent that she always wore. She would tend her gardens deep within the mountains. Without fail, we would tend the plants with care. She gave me a small portion of her garden. She once said that there is a certain joy to gardening. To create and support something is a great thing. You can see all kinds of things and learn from them.

I always held my mother's words at heart. I will never forget the first time the flowers opened their petals and reached out to the sky. That sense of accomplishment that I was able to bring forth life with my hands. I wanted to share that feeling with everyone else around me.

When was it that I stopped caring?


	3. It's a Wonderful World Part A

"Good morning, Leon!"

The energetic brunette runs into his office. Unfortunately, she finds herself tripping over the coffee table and landing face first to the floor. She quickly stands up and rubs her nose. "Morning." the brunette with unruly hair, Leon Loire, greets back without removing his attention from his papers. He silently sips his coffee as his assistant, Selphie Tilmitt, prepares the tools for their latest experiment.

"Ah, did you hear Leon?" Selphie turns her attention to him as she carries the bottles, "They said that they found some sort of structure at the Northern Crater." Leon raises his eyebrow as he looks at her, "What do you mean?" Selphie places the bottles on the experimentation table and beams, "They said that the technology is far different from the Gardens. In fact, there had been rumors that it's the fabled Midgar!"

Midgar, the Floating Fortress in the Sky. It was said that back then, there was a concept of Day and Night. And Midgar was created to reach the stars. Leon never understood people's fascination with the particular legend. "Also, also!" Selphie chimes cheerfully, "Quistis said that there's a new batch of SEED coming in today. Are you going to pick one this time, professor?"

SeeD, Garden's special forces, is nothing but a fancy term for Guinea Pigs. To the outside world, it is a mercenary force for hire, conducting missions around the world as battle support and undercover operatives. Its true purpose, however, is something much more than that. Leon gives a smirk as he finishes his coffee. That's right, there's something more to it. SeeD is nothing but an excuse to conduct human experiments. But before he finds himself getting lost to his thoughts, the door slides open. Leon sighs as Quistis Trepes comes in.

"I see you're busy as always, Leon." She greets as she waves a file. "Here's the list of this year's SeeD candidates. Headmaster Cid says that you are required this time to take one."

"There's no point taking one if they are not capable of handling it." Leon says a little bit irritably as he shoves the file into the table. "My, are you grumpy today?" Quistis teases him. Quite frankly, Leon hated the woman. She always shoves herself into him just like every other girls that grovel to his feet. The only girl that miraculously doesn't irritate him was Selphie. And that's only because she's far too naive and carefree to actually think of having a relationship.

Needless to say, Leon feels like the Headmaster wants him and his star pupil develop an intimate relationship.

"Now, now Leon. How can you say that? You don't even attend the ceremony!" Quistis waves her finger at him as if scolding a child. "I'll be there, just leave me to my work." Leon says as he finishes the last bit of his report. The faster this woman leaves, the better. She sighs as she waves goodbye to Selphie and motions herself outside, not without glancing a look at Leon before leaving completely.

"Is there a reason that you're so mean to her, Leon?" Selphie asks as she looks back at him. "That's none of your business. Get back to work." She pouts for a bit and with a small 'okaaay' she carries some stack of papers.

This is going to be a long day.


	4. It's a Wonderful World Part B

They finally arrive after what seemed to be an eternity. As the steel door opens, they were greeted by the Garden's Faculty, wearing a long robe and some straw hat. Their face concealed from sunlight providing an enigmatic appearance. They were motioned to move out of the van and line themselves. They walk silently and obediently. Afraid that if they don't follow their orders, it will be the end of them.

"Come on now, can you stand?" A teenager with a distinguishable tattoo on the left side of his face said. "If you don't get your grip together, they might punish you." He heaves the spiky blonde boy to stand straight. It seems that his motion sickness got him badly and he looked pale. One of the Garden faculty notices their dawdling and approaches them. The tattooed youth felt a chill coming down his spine. "What is the matter?" they asked rather kindly that it caught him off guard. He couldn't determine the gender of the said faculty. "He has motion sickness. I think he's holding back from vomiting." The robed person grabs the younger one by the shoulders. The strength they displayed caught him off guard. "Go and join your fellow SeeDs. I will take care of him."

The tattooed youth nods vigorously and runs to catch up with the others. The sounds of bells and the chirping of the birds made the place seem a lot brighter than how he imagined it. The place is packed and busy with people outside doing their own thing. He thought to himself that this place might not be so bad after all. But it's too early for him to decide he thought.

Soon he catches up to them and straightens himself. The Headmaster Kramer was waiting for them at the stage. He finds himself seated and the Headmaster stands on the podium.

"Welcome to Balamb Garden, young SeeDs." he spoke. "All of you are here for the atrocities you've committed. Every single one of you have been labeled as freaks, barbarians, uncultured swine, vagrants... _monsters_." The tattooed youth swallows hard. A lot of them move restlessly on their seats. The pause feels like ages for them.

"But today marks the day where you can reform and live an honest life. A chance to prove to the world that you are more than what they assume you to be. That every single one of you is an individual and furthermore, humanity's hope."

* * *

"I'm going first, Leon." Selphie waves as she leaves the door. Leon raises his hand as a sign of dismissal. As soon as she leaves, he finishes his last mug of coffee. Satisfied with his work, he stretches. With a few pops, he slumps down to his chair. Finally, his work for today is over. He glances at the clock that says 3 P.M. and groans. He forgot to attend to the SeeD's opening ceremony.

He sighs and looks at the file Quistis left earlier. Slightly annoyed, he grabs it and starts skimming.

"Zell Dintch. Age, 17. Blond hair and blue eyes." The kid has a large black tattoo on the left side of his face, he notes. "168 cm. Specializes in hand-to-hand combat." Leon reads the details aloud. It's his way of fuming off irritation and boredom accumulated. If he doesn't do this, he'll find himself off with the faeries and forget what he was doing. The kid looks irritating and while his potential as Ifrit's Vessel is impressive, he doesn't have the time or energy to take care of the runt.

"Yuffie Kisaragi. Age, 16. 160 cm." He raises his eyebrow over the lack of information. It seems that this one is a vagrant: probably someone who has been captured over some petty crime and is now under inspection. "Welcome to hell, kid." Leon casually remarks as he flips through the pages. It seems that this year has a lot of decent candidates. It might actually benefit him to get one.

He gives a bitter laugh. Hah! Who is he kidding? He doesn't have the patience to take care of some twerp. He can barely handle a conversation without losing interest and think of far more important things. He closes the file rather roughly and much to his dismay, the files scattered across the floor. With a silent curse, he picks up the paper and haphazardly returns them to original form. He grabs the last piece of paper feeling a small emotion of triumph. He gives it a glance before stacking it with the others.

Something about this file is off. It has the headmaster's seal of confidentiality and is addressed directly to him. He closes the other file and drops it to the table without losing his focus on this one piece of paper.

"I'll be damned." he whispers. A crooked smile appears on his face. This can't be right. There's just no way that this is possible. He grabs his leather jacket, folds the paper and, bee lines to the door.

* * *

After the Opening Ceremony, the SeeDs find themselves celebrating in the Garden's ballroom. They've been asked to wait there for unspecified reasons. Aside from it being a grand ballroom with food stacked over the side, many of them are still surprised over the fact that they have a chance to reform their lives. Little by little, the SeeDs finally interact with each other.

"So you're also a SeeD, huh? I hope we'll get along."

"That's a really cool tattoo you have."

"Whoa, that's a really nifty hat! What is it made from?"

The idle chatter between the excitable SeeDs continue. For once, they feel like they're interacting as normal humans and a part of society.

"I heard that each SeeD has their own Gardener." a rather busty, black haired woman named Tifa said. The energetic Yuffie chimes into the conversation, "Are they like our personal babysitters or what?" Tifa gives a chuckle and waves her hand. "They're more like our handlers from what I heard. They help us ease into society and train us to control the forces inside us."

"May I join in?" A rather gloomy looking SeeD commented. He has long black hair and his red bandana can barely expose his face. The others look at him in surprise. He didn't seem like the type to join a conversation. Tifa nods as a welcome to the silent man. They hadn't noticed that he was sitting there the entire time.

"I heard that Gardeners are ranked." Tifa continues when Zell interrupted, "The value of a SeeD depends on the Gardeners rank? That's not cool, man."

"The weak doesn't deserve a high ranking Gardener, dumbass." All of them turn their attention to a blonde man with a scar across his face. Zell would've retorted if it wasn't for the man's cheeky grin and the emblem of the Garden attached to his outfit. "You're Tifa Lockheart, right?" Tifa looks at him with surprise etched on her face. She gives a slow nod as she says yes. "I'm your Gardener, Seifer Almasy."

Tifa curses to herself upon the realization. "And these are my assistants Fujin and Raijin." The two appear out of nowhere and greets her. "WELCOME." Fujin says. "Hey there, nice to meet 'cha!" Raijin adds cheerfully. "Make sure to wake up early tomorrow, newbie." Seifer says as he gives her a key. She looks at it and notices that it seems to be a dorm key. "If you get lost, just consult the Garden Directory. Should be easy, right?"

Without waiting for a reply, Seifer leaves with his group and approaches another SeeD. "Whoa, it seems like you got a jerk for a Gardener." Yuffie comments as she looks at Seifer. Tifa sighs in dismay. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse." Zell then pats her shoulder, "It might not be so bad."

"Zell Dincht?"  
Everyone quickly turns their head to the voice.

Zell's jaw drops at the sight of his soon-to-be Gardener. "Yes!" he answers and stands straight. "My name is Quistis Trepe. I will be your Gardener" she says casually as she adjusts her glasses, "But you may call me Instructor Trepe." she then offers her hand. Zell wipes his hand at the side of his pants and enthusiastically shakes her hand. "I hope that we will have a smooth partnership."

She lets go of his hand and gives him a key. "Make sure to read the timetable at your dorms. It's imperative that you follow the schedule. Understood?" Zell nods vigorously and flexes his right arm, "You can count on me Instructor!"

She gives him a small nod of approval and excuses herself. Tifa gives him a jab to the rib. "I can't believe it, you have THE Quistis Trepe as your instructor." Zell tilts his head as he crosses his arms, "What do you mean?" Tifa places her face on her palm and shakes her head, sighing. It seems she's the only one who knows ANYTHING around here. The gloomy SeeD replies, "She's an Elite Gardener and possibly the next Headmaster."

Zell felt like a shit ton of bricks just rained down on him. "HOLY SHIT. NO WAY?!" Zell exclaims as well as gathering a few curious looks. He shrinks to his chair as much as possible to hide his shame. Yuffie stuffs herself with bread, a little bit disappointed that she hasn't been approached by her Gardener yet. She also noticed that the gloomy SeeD has been eyeing on her ever since he joined them, or well the other way around. She avoids his glance when he stands up and offers her a key similar to the others, "My name is Vincent Valentine. I'm your Gardener."

Yuffie chokes on her food.


End file.
